Kuwait offers help to rebuild Iraq after Mosul victory

Victory has been declared in Mosul, but the scale of reconstruction needed means Iraq will need all the help it can get from neighbours such as Kuwait

Kuwait’s leader has offered to host an international conference this year on rebuilding parts of Iraq reclaimed from ISIL.

Sheikh Sabah made the offer to Iraq’s prime minister Haider Al Abadi in a telephone call following the “historic victory” in Mosul, according to the Kuwait News Agency.

He told the prime minister that the offer was a gesture of solidarity with Iraq, a country which invaded the emirate in 1990 leading to the First Gulf War.

The scale of the reconstruction project in Mosul alone is huge, with other areas of the country still remain under ISIL control. The battle for Mosul lasted for nine months leaving thousands dead and two-thirds of the city’s residential districts either moderately or heavily damaged, according to the U.N.

Sheikh Sabah said he hoped that the victory over ISIL proclaimed by the prime minister on Monday in the city would increase unity across Iraq, echoing comments made by the senior US commander in Iraq, Lt Gen Stephen Townsend.

The commander told the BBC that the government had to reach out to the Sunni Arab majority to ensure the defeat of ISIL across the country. The group was able to exploit Sunni anger at the sectarian policies of the Shia Arab-led government to seize parts of north and west Iraq three years ago.